Swiss Pat. No. 491,620 discloses a boot whose upper is surrounded by a cuff articulated on two lateral axes located in the vicinity of the base of the heel, the cuff opening at its upper portion and being provided at that location with a closure hook. To free said hook, the cuff is opened, separating its two edges, and swings rearwardly allowing the foot to be inserted into the boot. One disadvantge of this structure is that the cuffs, being split toward the front, is not rigid enough when the skier is in bent position toward the front. It is also not possible to make the cuff more rigid, since then it becomes more difficult for the skier to separate the edges of the cuff in order to permit it to swing rearwardly when the boot is to be put on or taken off.
Swiss Pat. No. 548,745 describes a boot whose upper is in two parts, viz., a first cuff part which is an integral part of the boot and open toward the back, and a second part constituted by a movable rear hood, articulated to the sole by a flexible tongue, the rear hood covering the rearward opening in the first part. In closed position, the rear hood in inserted between the edges of the cuff. This arrangement makes it possible to give the rod excellent resistance to forward bending, but has the disadvantage that it requires several hooks to produce good interlocking of the rear hood and the cuff, and tightness at the base of the hood even when the skier is in rearward position.
It has also been suggested to form the upper in two parts articulated to one another via two lateral lower axes, either by providing that the rear hood covers the edges of the rear opening of the cuff (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,883,964), or by providing that the rear hood is engaged between the rear edges of the cuff. In the first case, it is indispensable to provide at least two hooks in order to prevent the outer edges of the hood from gaping, to the detriment of the rigidity and tightness of the upper. In the second case, which is the one used by applicant in its manufacture, a single hook placed at the top of the upper suffices to assure superior tightness and resistance to buckling of the cuff.